1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to modular building construction, and more particularly to a prefabricated building panel having attachment tabs which can be nailed to the sides of usual building wall studs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The construction of an exterior stucco wall using current techniques is a tedious, time consuming and expensive procedure. After the usual upright wooden studs have been erected, a base must be provided onto which the cement stucco can be applied. In a typical procedure tie wires are attached to the studs, criss-crossing the spaces between the studs, and waterproof paper is then nailed to the studs over the wires. Next, a wire mesh is nailed to the studs over the paper to provide anchorage for a first or scratch coat of stucco. This takes as much as three days to cure and usually there is an accompanying building inspection. A second layer or "brown" coat is then applied to bring the stucco to the approximate thickness desired. Curing and inspection of this layer takes approximately eight more days. Finally, the finish or color coat of stucco is applied to provide the proper color, texture and finish which requires a curing time of one hour and yet another building inspection.
There are a number of variations of the foregoing procedure, but most prior art stucco construction techniques are generally similar, each requiring numerous inspections, extended curing times, skilled labor, and material wastage on the job site, as well as scaffolding.